§ Mr. Waddingtonasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether all uniform for the armed forces is manufactured in Great Britain; and whether the cloth is produced by British industry.
§ Mr. John MorrisOn average we buy clothing to the approximate value of £7 million for the Services each year and the bulk of these requirements is purchased and manufactured in the United Kingdom. The latest available figures show that in the period 1st September, 1967, to 31st August, 1968, contracts worth only about £35,000 were placed outside the United Kingdom.
In the same period contracts worth approximately £9,000 were placed for imported loomstate cloth which was dyed and finished in the United Kingdom. This is a very low proportion of our purchases of cloth for issue to garment-making contractors.